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Jillian York

Jillian C. York is EFF's Director for International Freedom of Expression and is based in Berlin, Germany. Her work encompasses a broad range of topics, from digital security to the privatization of censorship. At EFF, she works on a number of projects, including Surveillance Self-Defense, Digital Citizen, and OnlineCensorship.org. Jillian's writing has been featured in Al Jazeera, the Guardian, Foreign Policy, the Atlantic, and the New York Times, among others. She is also a regular speaker at global events.

Prior to joining EFF, Jillian worked at Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet & Society, where she worked on several projects including the OpenNet Initiative and Herdict. She is the co-founder of the award-winning multilingual blog Talk Morocco, and has volunteered with Global Voices for many years.

In addition to her work at EFF, Jillian is a fellow at the Centre for Internet & Human Rights in Berlin and a founding member of the Deep Lab collective. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of Global Voices, and on the advisory boards of SMEX and R-Shief.

Jillian holds a BA in Sociology from Binghamton University, where—like a surprisingly large number of individuals in her field—she also studied theatre. She alternately resides in the Internet or on an airplane and can often be found blogging or tweeting, as @jilliancyork.

More than a year after the start of the "Arab Spring," large portions of the Middle East remain in upheaval. Even in the most stable of countries, press freedom--and by extension, online freedom--remains up for debate. We've highlighted the ongoing debate in Tunisia over online filtering, and have touched on new threats to bloggers in several countries.

In the wake of a horrific rampage, in which Mohamed Merah (now dead after a 32-hour standoff with police) reportedly murdered three French soldiers, three young Jewish schoolchildren, and a rabbi, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France has begun calling for criminal penalties f

Last week, EFF joined eight international press and digital freedom organizations in sending a letter to the Vietnamese government to call on them to release five youth activists currently held in detention in Hanoi without access to legal counsel. The activists are all active bloggers and contribute to prominent citizen journalist sites.

This weekend kicks off one of EFF's favorite events: South by Southwest (SXSW). This year, in addition to a number of exciting panels, the EFF team will also be having a party! We’re all really excited to see you there, and hope that you’ll stop by our Trade Show booth (#723) to learn more about our work and pick up some swag.

EFF is pleased to see that Websense, a company that produces Internet filtering technology, has issued a statement against Pakistan’s call for proposals [PDF] for companies to assist with their pervasive censorship plans.

EFF is deeply disturbed to hear of the stabbing of Jordanian blogger Enass Musallam on Monday in a suburb of the capital, Amman. Musallam is currently recovering in hospital and is in stable condition.